How do you reinvigorate design for a mass audience?

Don't call it a comeback.

Sydney Design Festival has been running for 20 years, making it one of the oldest design festivals in the world. However, having recently moved its event dates from September to March they risked becoming lost in Sydney’s busy cultural calendar. Our challenge was to create impact for the new brand to boldly announce their autumnal arrival.

Pushing design forward.

It was never going to be as simple as just creating something nice to look at. Sydney Design Festival needed a definitive purpose to push forward the boundaries of design, bringing cutting-edge ideas to a Sydney audience. Translating this purpose into the visual assets was essential. Complementing it with strong, evocative language was just as important.

Making a statement.

A stacked logo featuring different type sizes forms the basis of the refreshed identity. The words are designed to play with perspective, bringing a distant future ever closer. Working with Kubi Vasak, a Sydney based collage artist, we developed a lo-fi layered illustration style which spoke to the grass roots efforts of the festival. Together all these distinctive elements inform a bold and fresh identity for Sydney’s oldest design festival.